Advice needed on tanto

[The one guy]

So I'm relatively new to blade making having only made 2 before. Unfortunately neither function as they where made from mild steel due to my silly idea that 2 found pieces of steel must have been high carbon. Anyway my latest attempt is using a jack hammer bit (some form of tool steel I believe) to make a functional blade. So I decided that I would make a tanto as it is one of my favorite looking knives. Anyway I start forging and get it all nice and rough forged then I bevel the edges and well this happens.

Now here is my question as i straighten the blade should I make it as perfect as possible or leave it slightly curved? I will be attempting a hamon so there should be some bending I think. Any help will be greatly appreciated.

TL;DR: to straighten or not to straighten that is my question.

 

[JTknives]

I wish you the best but that's a lot of work going into a chunk of steel in which you don't know it's aloy. Also there is a good chance that this "bit" is a high aloy steel which won't lend its self easly to clay quenching. As most here will tell you I say invest in a small chunk of 1084 from http://newjerseysteelbaron.com/shop/1084hc/
There is enough of a chalange ahead of you and no need to add mistery steel in the mix.

 

[The one guy]

Thank you for the link but unfortunately they don't ship out of the U.S.A. do you think I should just do a normal heat treat with no clay and try and find a steel that will work with a clay heat treat?

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

This is why you should fill out your profile. No one knows what advise to give you with no info like age, location, and experience. The answer to a retired machinist in the USA is very different from the answer given to a 15 year old student in Rangoon, Burma.
Letting us know where you live will allow someone with specific info to your location give advice. There may be another knifemaker near you who can help.


The jack hammer bit could be several types of steel. The HT for them is different, which will be your biggest problem. The only HT guess I can offer is to treat it as S-7 steel and hope for the best. Unfortunately, the HT for S-7 steel is more complex than regular carbon steels. It requires a HT oven and liquid nitrogen. If you don't have those capabilities, forget using the jack hammer bit.

A far better choice of steel would be a leaf spring from a car or truck. If your area has any spring shops that make springs, you can buy the steel new, or sometimes get a cut-off for free. Spring steel varies in composition, but usually is something similar to 5160. Most all springs will HT with the program for 5160.
Another good choice for steel is large old files. They are usually something similar to 1095 in composition, and a 1095 HT works good enough. There is a whole thread in the stickys about making knives from files and heat treating them.

Other places to get steel are to find a machine shop. They can either order you a piece of steel to make a knife from, or very likely may give you a piece. O-1 is a common steel in machine shops, and makes a good knife with a fairly simple HT.

 

[The one guy]

I apologize for not filling out my profile I assumed my question was relatively simple and would not require any other knowledge. A few websites say that S-7 is an air quenching steel if so should I continue or will I need the equipment you stated? Finally do you think I should give up on this blade until I can properly heat treat? And move onto using a different piece of steel.

 

[A.McPherson]

Hey guy,
The best advice had already been given. Find a chunk of steel that you KNOW what it is.
Save what you have there until you have made a couple known steel knives, then when you try to get the heat treat for that unknown steel figured out, you will know what you are looking for.
If you want to do the heat treat, go with a simple carbon steel, 1080, 1075, 1084, one of these is perfect for us beginners. They are easy to work, easy to heat treat and make excellent knives. Best of all, these steels are cheap. Next in line (in my opinion) would be o1 just because It's a little more expensive.
I'm a newby too, and making a good knife is a lot more complex than I thought it would be coming into this craft.
Read the stickies at the top of the page, they have all the answers!